Realize that becoming one would
by random-k
Summary: Five decisions that were not made that could have changed things


"_So many stars in the sky, each unique and full of destiny. I wanted more than anything to be part of those stars.  
I never realized becoming one would destroy me." Tracy Krimmer_

* * *

_Things that did not happen in watch dogs. But could have, perhaps, happened in another universe._

_I own nothing but my own ideas_

_Warnings for character deaths, major and otherwise._

* * *

"A perfectly good scheme. No one would have found out if you had just stood by me."

"Don't get jumpy and cut the link" Damien warns his protégé, who is sounding ready to bolt, and screw up the whole job. "That will just catch their attention."

Aiden hesitates, instincts warring with each other. This money is needed. He decides to stay. Maybe if he had been faster, or different words had been used, if the rent hadn't been coming up, or an untold number of variables had played a little differently, he might have run. Sometimes a few words can change everything.

They keep quiet, and manage to slip under the radar, and out of the area, with the money. The money loss was probably blamed the on the other hacker. They are lucky enough to never learn what kind of bullet they dodged.

Soon enough, they are back to their usual work.

Chicago goes on, as it always does.

* * *

"I idolized you"

_(Like Jackson does)_

Jackson gets in the car first. Lena complains that he took her seat, but eventually concedes it over to him, and buckles herself into the other one.

She insists they go to Pawnee. Jackson doesn't argue. He doesn't mind going to Pawnee either. Later, Lena wonders if it might have made a difference if they had gone somewhere else.

Maurice wonders, later, if things would have gone differently, if he had shot the right. Or not at all.

What did make a difference, is that when the car crashed, it was not Lena who died, but Jackson.

Lena is badly hurt, glass cut deep enough into tendon of her arm, to render it unusable. The bills from the hospital, and the physical therapy, are expensive, and hard on Nicole.

Lena is angry. She's mad at Aiden, mad at the people who shot the tire in the car, and mad at herself. She is frustrated at the way everyone is treating her since her arm injury, and frustrated at the many things she has trouble doing with only one arm. Her mood is frequently explosive.

Aiden feels the same. Guilty, frustrated, and angry, which is why he goes out to find answers and revenge.

Chicago is never the same for them, after that.

* * *

"I'm not following you anymore"

Maurice sees children, and decides against doing anything just yet. He might not have a lot of morals, but he draws the line at endangering children. It's not as though he has to kill Aiden right this moment, and traumatize those kids.

Aiden, Lena, and Jackson enjoy their trip to Pawnee without incident. They go home.

The next day, Aiden is shot while shopping in a grocery store.

It is hard on his surviving family members, and particularly hard on his sister Nicole. Aiden was her big brother, has been there for her, in Ireland, in America, had given her away at her wedding, and stayed with her to help her after her divorce. Having him taken away so suddenly, is devastating.

Damien finds out what happened to his protégé, when he gets out of the hospital. He is bitter, but perhaps, he reflects, he was lucky to keep his life.

He knows Aiden cared a lot about his family. He knows, she has to be struggling as a single mother with two kids, and no support. He can offer some help. He can't support her permanently, he has his own child support to pay for, but he can teach her some of the things he taught Aiden. As a final favor, to his old protégé. Teach a man, or in this case a woman, to fish.

He's going to need someone more experienced with ground work, for his revenge plans, of course. Perhaps another fixer.

Nicole doesn't particularly like the things she has learned, of course, but they are eye opening. It's startling to realise how many things around her are connected to the internet.

She's not happy about stealing, but it keeps the bills paid, and she can choose who to steal from based on what information she can find. Some of the information she gets on people is nightmare inducing. An HIV positive blood donor?! She would have happier not knowing what the people around her are like in the dark.

Since Aiden's death, she has been noticing just how dangerous the world around her is. Chicago is corrupt, and crime happens all around her. Hell, she is a criminal now. She can't easily leave, not with her children but with the information she has at her fingertips… well perhaps she can do something about it.

It starts small. Listening into conversations, and texts, and doing what she can to prevent things, without being seen.

It is escalated dramatically when she meets Claire, and changes Chicago forever.

* * *

" Don't you see? That's what binds us together."

Damien might be an asshole. But he is a talented asshole, and his old partner. As much as Aiden is angry at him, and wants to blame him for Lena's death, he knows it is just as much his fault as it is Damian's. He wants to say, he works alone, but it wouldn't be true.

His pride demands he solve this for his family, and he doesn't want to bring anyone else in, there are already enough people involved to him. But screw his pride, which demands he turn Damian down, his pride will not help him get revenge, not when it leads him to turn down perfectly good leads. Particularly when he is lacking one, at the moment.

For all that Aiden and Damian grate on each other's nerves, they are an effective team. They know how to work together. It's not hard to fall back into a routine.

For all Damien laughs at him, when Aiden goes off on "Fox related business", he doesn't stop him. Occasionally, he even helps out a bit, sending Aiden locations.

When someone tries to kidnap Nicky and Jackson, Damien and Clara form an unlikely but effective team and stop them, with Jordi backing them up.

They don't get along most of the time, but a common goal keeps them connected and motivated.

Chicago is changed, though for better or worse, who can say?

* * *

"You should be nicer to me"

He throws it out near the end of the call, almost like an afterthought.

"Nicky and Jackson, are safe for the moment. I want you to keep an eye on them for me."

He hates asking for that, hates the implication that he is incapable of keeping his family safe, but he can't watch them at the moment. It's not safe for him to be there. She's not as known as he is, and hopefully, that will help.

"I am happy to hear that. Of course I will!"

She doesn't ask where. Phone calls are not always safe, and she can find that information put for herself.

Sometimes a few words can change everything.

Chicago continues to be Chicago, but it is also the home of the Fox.

That means something, to the people who live there.

* * *

_All titles are from in game character lines, save for the story title._

_Edit: "the character list seems oddly incomplete. Why is Lena a listed character, but not Jackson or Nicky? Particularly since Lena is dead, and only in the game through flashbacks? Or Damien? I used characters from the list, but I'm a bit bothered by the missing names. _


End file.
